Search form

blog

The following guest post analyzes how recent innovations in home automation could impact us in areas we may not realize.
-----
Speculative fiction commonly depicts bleak visions of the future, but the content is typically reactionary to current, real-world events. Such fiction examines the duality...

Way back in 2010 we put up the post on 10 steps to build a zero net energy home. We figure it was time for an update! For the pic above to be zero net energy, it probably needs solar panels on the othe side of the roof and I hope the glass doors are double (or triple!) pane, but we hey, we...

Back in 2011 it was 4 months after we covered Google shutting down its PowerMeter service that we first covered the Nest Thermostat. Now, things have come full circle with Google acquiring Nest and getting back in the home energy game. From the GTM article:
"Google has also been toying with its...

The following guest post is written by Chris Long from Home Depot. My plan in the next year and a half is to research and eventually build (or refurbish) a home. A large part of that will be picking a sustainable and cost-effective flooring method. I am from Calhoun, GA, which is right below...

In March we wrote about Cree breaking the $10 barrier in an A19 LED bulb. Now several other manufacturers are following suite.
Green Tech Media has a great article on the new LED bulbs from Philips, GE and Wal-Mart that are also right around the $10 mark. From the article:
"The incumbents were...

The following guest post is written by Chris Long from Home Depot.
---------------
When you think about the most effective places in a home to remove waste, kitchens and bathrooms probably top your list. After all, kitchens with their trash cans and garbage disposals make getting rid of waste a...

There are 2 main types of heat pumps: Air source and Ground source. This article mainly compares and air source heat pump to a natural gas furnace. We like the EnergySavers.Gov page on how a Heat pump works. The biggest drawback to heat pumps is that in cold climate they probably will need...

The internet makes it very easy to google a phrase online and find a bunch of info on that topic. But to be honest, most of the time that info is crap. It's sites that are trying to sell you something or that have gamed the google rankings to push themselves higher in the page rank. If you...

It's not as beautiful as the Tesla Model S, but it also doesn't need a Supercharger network to prevent Range Anxiety. The new BMW i3 is an electric vehicle with a gasoline "range extender" option.
From the BMW USA i3 page:
"The BMW i3 with Range Extender takes you further, allowing you to...

The Tesla Supercharger network is a network of rapid charging stations that owners of the Tesla Model S can use to rapidly charge their car battery FOR FREE! From the Tesla Supercharger page:
"We will soon roll out 120 kW Superchargers, which are 33% faster than our current version and can...

The guest post below is written by the folks over at Extra Space Storage. It's pretty impressive what can happen when a company sets its mind on using clean energy and energy efficiency. They reached out to me to see if Mapawatt could feature one of their guest posts. I said sure, as long as I...

The following guest post is written by Michael Joseph. He believes home improvements should not only be aesthetic but sensible and energy-efficient as well. Michael is a freelance writer who has had 12 years of experience as an interior designer. He currently writes for Atlanta Champion Window...

A new tool that enables residents to find out about their state utility regulators and state energy makeup was just released and can be found here.
From the press release:
"Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national business organization representing the advanced energy industry, today unveiled a...

One of our goals when we redesigned Mapawatt was to provide a section where users could learn about and compare different energy efficient and clean energy products. We realized there were many websites writing about new products and technologies, but there weren't many that were helping...

The following guest post is written by Chad Janisch, a 10-year roofing industry veteran and owner of the Roofing Annex, a roofing contractor based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. His focus is on blending the traditional grunt work involved in roofing with new technologies that allow for companies to work...

This guest post was written by the team at Infinite Energy. They have a list of 10 questions to ask a solar panel salesman before you commit to buying anything. Mapawatt also has an introduction to Residential Solar PV installation in our Education section!
-------Solar panel systems – also known...

The following guest post was written for Mapawatt by Jay Harris, a Home Depot sales associate in the Chicago suburbs and a writer on Home Depot's website. Jay's interests in home improvement include providing energy-saving light bulb tips to homeowners to offering advice on LED bulbs.
----------...

I've mentioned Paul Scheckel's excellent book Home Energy Diet in two of our previous posts: Sustainable Inspirational Books and Energy savings tips for Beginners. Well, it looks like I'll be mentioning him a lot more now that he has managed to top his previous effort with his new book titled...

I recently saw the item in the picture above online as a method for using a candle to heat up the room you are in. The product is called the Kandle Heeter and can be found here. There are 2 reasons this product is silly.
1.) The product above would only slow down the heat that enters the room...